Mull Adopt-a-Beach

Plastic debris is regularly washed up onto the shoreline of Mull and Iona. Mull Otter Group regularly carry out beach cleans, and this is vital work to protect our wildlife, and to create a pleasant environment for us humans.
Work is also carried out by rangers, schools, charitable groups like ours, and individuals, but unfortunately a great deal of Mull’s 300 mile coast line will remain litter strewn as for the most part, the efforts currently made can only extend as far as the more popular stretches of shore line.

Mull Adopt-a-beach is a scheme which seeks to build on the work currently carried out, and encourage more extensive beach cleaning across the island. Do you want to join in?

Borrow Beach Cleaning Equipment. We will lend beach cleaning equipment to any organisation or individual on Mull free of charge. We have 20 sturdy litter pickers, 20 pairs of gloves, and 5 handy-hoop bag openers. If you have a beach clean and would like to borrow some equipment then contact Marie Fox on mfox62@gmail.com

Marine Conservation Society. We also seek to encourage participation in the Marine Conservation Society’s data gathering programmes (Beach Watch, Great British Beach Clean). This is important work which provides evidence to drive change – for example the Scottish government is now introducing a deposit return system for plastic bottles.

Tell us what you already do. Do you already carry out beach cleans? Great! Carry on the good work and just let us know which stretches of shore line you look after. Do let us know if you need any more help.

Adopt a beach! Look after a small stretch of shore in your local area just once or twice a year. You can do this on your own or organise your own beach cleans. We would love to allocate new beach watchers to currently uncared for shoreline.

Tell us about beach litter. Can you let us know where the marine litter hotspots are? Perhaps you know an area that needs cleared but you can’t tackle it on your own. We can help organise beach cleans. It maybe in an out of the way spot, but even if very few people see the litter it is still important that it is removed.

Survey your litter. If you can, include a 100m survey stretch in your beach clean and submit the data to the Marine Conservation Society Beachwatch at any time of year. Or survey your beach to coincide with the Great British Beach Clean, and submit the data then. We can provide help or are willing to do the boring computer work for you if you like!
Or join in our beach clean as part of the Great British Beach Clean. It takes place over the course of a weekend every mid-September.

Raise Money! Perhaps you are part of a charitable group or organisation. Did you know that the GRAB Trust can provide payments to groups who carry out beach cleans?

Take a bag with you. Even if you can’t get involved in beach cleans, consider taking a bag with you on your walks or drives around Mull and if you see some litter take it home with you – every little helps.

Beach Cleaning Map of Mull

The green dots on this map represent places where we know organised beach cleans regularly take place, or where individuals have kindly committed to looking after a stretch of coast. As you can see there is plenty of coastline that needs to be adopted. Can you devote a little bit of your time, once or twice a year, to cleaning our coast?